helping journalists cover social media in the presidential campaign
Ohio has been considered one of the most significant swing states for decades, but for the first time since 1960 the winner did not win the state of Ohio. In this post, we take a look at how the candidates used Facebook and Instagram ads to appeal to voters in Ohio.
As a swing state with 6 electoral votes, Nevada was integral on the path to winning the 2020 election. Here we take a deep dive into how the official Biden and Trump campaign pages targeted voters within the Silver State.
Earlier in the summer, Donald Trump consistently had a lower spend per 1000 views than Joe Biden. However, in many of the final weeks before the election, it was Joe Biden’s ads that had a lower spend per view.
In anticipation of a contentious presidential election, Facebook announced in September 2020 that it would make two changes to its treatment of ads about “social issues, elections or politics” in the US. This post provides an overview of these changes.
With the election finally decided, it is clear that the 2020 election was far from predictable. Several key voting demographics defied polling and created an unexpected outcome. In this article, we take a look at the “Latinos for Trump” Facebook page and how ads were used to influence this key demographic of voters.
As the death toll in the U.S. climbs to over 230,000, let’s see how Biden and Trump are choosing to discuss COVID.
As Election Day ballots are being cast, both candidates are hoping their ad spending efforts in Georgia have paid off. In this post, we take a look at how the candidates are using different types of Facebook ads to appeal to Georgia voters.
In the final days of the election, the Biden and Trump campaigns have focused a large sum of their ad spending in Wisconsin. In this post, we analyze how each candidate is allocating their money in hopes of winning over last-minute voters in this critical battleground state.
Joe Biden and Donald Trump have heavily focused spending in Pennsylvania, a critical battleground state in the November election.
Campaigns may have different strategies depending on if a state leans towards them or their opponent. In this post, Illuminating lead researcher Jeff Hemsley investigates if the Trump and Biden campaigns are using different Facebook ad strategies in six key contested states, including Iowa, Georgia, Ohio, North Carolina, Florida and Arizona.